Chapter 1
Alby
The Hemlock Mountain Sanctuary
The sun shined down on the roof, warming my naked back and legs. I stretched, blinking my eyes. I’d dozed off while reading a new book by Alesky Mink.
“At least you didn’t lose our page,” my wolf yawned into my thoughts and somewhere in the distance a crow cawed as if he overheard.
My wolf was right. I managed to fall asleep with the book on my chest face down.
I double-checked that I had my place marked right before closing The Trouble with Lion Dads.
Mink wrote some of the most adorable stuff.
I’d met him a few times at book signings.
He wasn’t bad on the eyes either. The GGB lion was married to his second chance mate and had a bunch of kids.
If anyone knew how to write a funny but romantic lion dad it was definitely him.
I didn’t know whether I had a crush on him or on how he brought some of my favorite characters to life.
A lot of readers said he didn’t hold a candle to Aben Radcliffe.
For me, it was comparing apples and pineapples.
Radcliffe wrote a lot of moody, suspenseful romance.
I loved it too but Mink’s stuff never failed to make me smile – no matter how many times I reread it.
If I had any qualms with Mink it was that he published at a much slower rate than Radcliffe, but having a brood of vampyric lions would do that anyone.
My ass vibrated, interrupting my lazy ponderings and I groaned. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. I wanted to read and stare at the clouds, pondering. Didn’t everyone have those days?
“Not around here,” my wolf said, hiding his face under his paws inside my inner sanctum as a group of fox and bear kids ran by.
Those were Mark and Felix’s grandkids or maybe a couple generations from them.
It was hard to keep up with. The kids laughed and one launched a water balloon at another.
It missed and splattered all over the ground.
Whoever was trying to reach me called again and I bit back a growl not to scare the kids playing through random yards.
Anywhere else and they’d have some shifter yelling at them to get off their lawn, but kids had a lot more freedom on the Hemlock Mountain Sanctuary.
It was one of the perks of living here. For those of us who grew up in the Sanctuary it was almost nostalgic to watch them racing around.
“One day, that will be our puppies,” my wolf said. “Well, maybe. They might hide in an orchard to read like we did.”
My phone rang again. I needed to stop ignoring it.
My grandpas were on their way to spend a few weeks at the sanctuary over the summer.
I loved them both, but Grandpa Clyde was so old-fashioned.
He didn’t even make it a secret that he finically favored those of us who were waiting for our true-mates instead of dating.
My parents said to ignore him because he’d seen too much and been through too much, but sometimes it was hard.
He never outright said anything horrible and he never blamed anyone for getting hurt, but he always smelled just sort of inconvenienced when something happened and he heard about it.
Twice as much if someone was hurt in a way that meant he should punch or kill someone.
Grandpa Ashley claimed that he could sniff out the ‘bad boys’ because he used to be one.
That was hard for me to imagine. Grandpa Clyde was a healer who trained at Hemlock Academy and fought in a war on the side of the good guys.
I couldn’t imagine him breaking any rule unless it was to save his mate.
“Hey, Grandpa,” I answered the phone without looking at who it was.
Grandpa Clyde had been on me to go back to university for something more serious than my Arts and Humanities degree.
I’d only gotten it because it was family tradition.
Everyone needed a university education. I was happy at the Sanctuary and had lived here my whole life except for when I was at Hemlock Academy.
“Er… I am a grandpa, but not your grandpa,” an almost familiar voice answered on the other side of the line.
“Mister Gilmore?” I asked.
I had only spoken to him once during an interview when I was chosen as an alternate to a Mated for Mayhem candidate.
Aidan Gilmore claimed he needed omegas in the wings in case someone backed out.
Mated for Mayhem had been an experiment run by the matchmaking company, Mated for the Holidays.
Only instead of finding your ‘perfect’ match, they found your worst and did all these surveys and stuff to see why the pair wouldn’t work out.
Grandpa had nearly popped a vein in his forehead when he heard I applied to participate.
I didn’t tell him, but someone had and I received so many texts and phone calls that I thought I might die from oversocialization with the elderly.
“I told you last time, you can call me Aidan,” the wolf on the other end of the phone said.
“I’m running another pairing experiment.
I have a particular alpha who wishes to participate and given his personal circumstances I believe he’ll provide ample data for the project.
I’m calling to inquire if you’re still interested in participating. ”
“What’s our match percentage?” I asked, rolling over and sitting up.
“I don’t care if it’s a negative percentage,” my wolf yawned inside my thoughts. “Seriously, if it gets us out of here before they show up, go!”
“Seven percent,” Aidan said, the smile in his voice self-evident.
“Ouch!” I laughed. “Does he know this?”
“He does,” Aidan said. “He’s one of Sky Hemlock’s grandkids. You’re not related, I double-checked, because common knowledge says most of you on the mountain are related to the Hemlocks.”
“Not me,” I laughed. “Hemlock Wolf by birth but not by the blood of Frost and Juda as far as I know. Raven Hollow for the most part.”
“Well, this guy is a dragon and he has a very squeaky-clean background. He seems a bit moody, but that’s most alphas these days,” Aidan laughed. “This particular dragon is ready to host or travel, depending on what you’re most comfortable with.”
Looking out over the Sanctuary made the thought of leaving even for a few months bittersweet. I missed this place but seeing more of the world would probably be good for me.
“Alby, are you still there?” Aidan asked.
“Yeah, just thinking.”
“You can take your time. He doesn’t even know I have a possible match for him. Wanted to reach out to you first.”
“Sky’s grandson. Is he one of Star’s kids?” I asked.
“Yes,” Aidan said.
“Grandpa doesn’t mind Star,” I said.
It wasn’t really any of grandpa’s business what I did, but as much as I hated to admit it, his intuition was usually spot on. Most of the time the only problem with him was right message/wrong attitude.
“You’d be staying very close to the main house of Star’s estate if you traveled there,” Aidan told me.
“I think I will. I mean, I definitely want to do the experiment,” I said. “I think I will go there, though.”
“I’ll touch base with him and we’ll set everything up. Expect your packet soon,” Aidan said.
“Thanks for thinking of me. I know my granddad complicates things,” I grinned.
“No, he doesn’t. I think this particular dragon could handle your grandpa. Though… Never mind, that’s a long story,” Aidan said.
“Have they crossed paths?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. There’s something there, though. Something that makes the system calculate that you have a very small chance of being true-mates. Almost like you’ve been at odds before or maybe your ancestors.”
“Eh, ancestors are ancestors,” I shrugged. “Just because we’re not romantically compatible doesn’t mean we won’t get along.”
“All the optimists come from Hemlock Mountain,” Aidan laughed and we ended the call.